From:                                   JoshHoff@aol.com

Sent:                                    Monday, October 20, 2008 2:08 AM

To:                                        JoshHoff@aol.com

Cc:                                        Kisenf@aol.com; TorahWorld@gmail.com

Subject:                                Netvort:parshas VeZos HaBeracha, 5769

 

                                              Where's My Shabbos?
                             By Rabbi Joshua (timelessly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

 

Outside Eretz Yisroel, where Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah are observed on two separate days,parshas VeZos HaBeracha is never read on a Shabbos.Even in Eretz Yisroel,where Simchas Torah is observed on Shemini Atzeres,this parshas only occasionally read on Shabbos, but is not assigned its own Shabbos every year,as are all other parshiyos in the Torah.why is this so? I recently heard Rabbi Moshe Weinberger cite the Kotzker Rebbe as saying that this parsha is beyond the constricts of time,as represented by the seven days of creation,and,therefore, is not included as part of the regular weekly cycle of Torah readings. Although Rabbi Weinberger did not elaborate on how this idea is reflected in the parsha itself,I would like to suggest a number of ways in which it does emerge from the reading,and on that basis offer an explanation of why it is read on Simchas Torah.

 


Parshas VeZos HaBeracha consists largely of Moshe's blessings to the various tribes before he died,and,then,his blessings to the nation as a whole,Rashi ( Devarim,33:13) notes that Moshe's blessings to the tribes are very similar to those that Yaakov conferred upon them before he died,as recorded in parshas Vayechi. Rabbi Shmuel Boronstein,in his Shem MiShmuel, writes that Moeshe's blessings were eternal,and that they are applicable to all future generations, since they are incorporated in the Torah,and the Torah itself is eternal Thus,Moshe's blessings stretched back to Yaakov,and extended forward into the future. Perhaps this reflects the eternal nature of the Jewish people,as expressed in the kabbalistic concept of Knesses Yisroel,which incorporates the past,present and future generations of the Jewish people in its pristine form..The Jewish people is in this way a timeless entity,encompassing all Jews throughout history.

 


At the end of the parsha, just as the death of Moshe is to be recorded,we are told of the  unique characteristics of Moshe, which distinguished him from all otherprophets.No other prophet,we are told,arose for Yisroel like Moshe. Interestingly,thousands of years later,in medieval Europe,an adage was coined in respect to the great Moshe Maimonides, the Rambam, saying that 'from Moshe to Moshe,there arose none like Moshe. Rabbi Dr. Isadore Twersky,zt'l, in a magisterial essay on the Rambam, "Reflections on the Historical Image of Maimonides" (translated from the original Hebrew and included in the volume The Legacy of Maimonides:Religion,Reason and Community,edited by Rabbis  Yamin Levy and Shalom Carmy),studies the meaning of this adage and its implications for the image Jews have had of the Rambam over the centuries. Among other things,he says that this adage has taken the Rambam above the bonds of time and space and elevated him to eternal life in the national consciousness.( see page 17 in the essay).  Rabbi Twersky attributes this image of the Rambam largely to his accomplishment of incorporating all aspects of Torah law and thought  in his Mishneh Torah and Moreh Nevochim. Perhaps here,too,we can apply Rabbi Boronstein's observation about Moshe's blessings. Since the Torah is eternal,and the blessings are part of Torah,the blessings are also eternal.In the case of the Rambam is comprehensive presentation of the entire Torah created an image of him that elevated him beyond time, just as the Torah itself is eternal.

 

Whether or not we accept Rabbi Twersky's assessment of the Rambam,the observation he made is certainly true in regard to Moshe himkself.His identification with the Torah ,as the one who brought it down to  the people from Mt.Sinai and taught it to them ,elevates him beyond time,and engraves an image of him,within the consciousness of the nation, as the eternal teacher of the eternal Torah,given by the eternal God to His eternal people. Perhaps,then,it is because all of these elements converge in VeZos HaBeracha that it is not assigned it sown Shabbos,thus giving it a timeless nature,as the Kotzker Rebbe said. We therefore read it, instead,on Simchas Torah,when we celebrate the  eternal relationship between God,His nation Yisroel,and His  Torah,as we dance around the Torah scroll and sing,from the Tikunei Zohar,that Yisroel,the Torah and God are one..

 

A joyous Yom Tov to all from all of us at Netvort Unlimited.

 

 


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